Pickup construction



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S D RUSSELL PICKUP CONSTRUCTION Feb3,1953

Flled March 4, 1946 Il I: I |l l i Patented Feb. 3, 1953 PICKUP CONSTRUCTION Stanley D. Russell, Racine, Wis., assignor to J. I. Case Company, Racine, Wis., a company of Wisconsin Application March 4, 1946, Serial No. 651,854

(Cl. 5ft-364) 10 Claims.

This invention relates to a pick-up construction for balers, harvesters and the like, adapted to pick-up a cut forage crop such as hay or grain from the ground and to deliver it to an apron or other feeder for the machine.

Pick-ups have generally been constructed of the rotary drum type with radial teeth extending outwardly from the drum at circumferential and longitudinally spaced intervals on the drum. Some have employed teeth mounted on separate adjacent chains or on chain driven slats.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a simpler and less costly pick-up construction which substantially reduces repair and maintenance costs.

Another object of the invention is to provide a pick-up that operates more smoothly and quietly.

Another object is to provide a pick-up that is more durable and less apt to break by encounter of obstructions and the like and which automatically slips when needed, to protect the teeth and mechanism from injury.

Another object is to provide a simple and effective mounting for the pick-up teeth.

Another object is to provide a more flexible drive for the pick-up teeth.

Another object is to lengthen the raking operation of the pick-up.

Another object is to provide a more effective stripper mounting for the pick-up.

Another object is to provide a pick-up which is spring mounted to automatically adjust itself to the uneven terrain over which it passes.

Other objects and advantages of the invention appear hereinafter, in the description of an embodirnent of the invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of the pick-up and schematically shows a baler or harvester to which it attached;

2 is a front elevation of the pick-up enlarged from that shown in Fig. 1 and with parts broken away and sectioned;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the pick-up with parts broken away and sectioned; and

4 is a detail enlarged section through a belt showing a tooth mounting thereon and a shears mounting for the belt.

The pick-up is shown attached to one side of a mobile baler, chopper, drier, harvester or other crop treating device I and is adapted to pick-up a forage crop or the like from the ground as the device i moves forwardly and to deliver the crop material upon a feeder apron 2 for the device.

The frame for the pick-up comprises a pair of parallel forwardly extending side bars 3 secured at their rear ends to the corresponding end i flanges il of a vertical plate-like cross member 5.

The frame is supported rigidly upon the outer forward ends of a pair of vertically pivotal lever arms 5.

The housing for the pick-up comprises a plurality of laterally spaced bars 'I extending horizontally forward from the lower edge of cross member 5 and looped upwardly around the pickup rotor and rearwardly along a gradual upward incline to the upper edge of cross member 5. The bars 'I are preferably of flat strip metal hanged inwardly along the sides like a, shallow channel to provide rigidity for the pick-up housing.

The rotor for the pick-up is disposed within housing 'i and comprises a pair of parallel transverse shafts 8 mounted for rotation in end bearings S carried by the side bars E. Each shaft 8 has a plurality of adjacent sheaves IB thereon with V-grooves II in their peripheries for receiving and holding corresponding V-belts I2l The sheaves Il! of one shaft 8 are aligned with the corresponding sheaves IE) of the other shaft so that each V-belt I2 runs on a pair of aligned sheaves, there being as many V-belts as there are sheaves on a given shaft.

The belts I2 are maintained under a predetermined tension by mounting bearings 9 for the idling shaft 8, preferably the rear shaft, in a slideway on the side bars 3 and providing a spring I3 between an abutment I4 and the bearing housing on each corresponding frame.

Each V-belt I2 has a plurality of spaced spikelike pick-up teeth i5 extending outwardly therefrom. The teeth I5 preferably have their outer ends pointed and each tooth has a central shoulder I6 for engaging the outer surface of the corresponding belt I 2 when the inner end of the tooth is passed through the belt. The inner end of each tooth l5 is threaded, and a nut Il screwed thereon secures the tooth to the belt.

The teeth I5 extend outwardly through the spaces between bars l to constitute the pick-up teeth for the crop material. In practice it has been found suitable to construct the bars 'I of strips about three inches wide and to space them apart about one-half an inch, the teeth I5 eX- tending through the spaces thus provided. The belts i2 are therefore spaced a little over three inches apart on centers.

The number of teeth l5 on each belt IE may vary and will depend largely upon the length of the belt. n general the teeth may be spaced from four to six inches apart longitudinally of the belt depending upon the length of the horizontal path of the belt, determined by the spacing of the shafts 3 and size of the sheaves i0. Each belt l2 should have at least one tooth I5 projecting downwardly to engage the ground at any given time in the operation of the pick-up.

The belts l2 are driven in the direction of the arrows in the drawing to provide a forward raking movement for the teeth l5 as the pick-up moves forwardly over the ground, and a lifting movement for the hay as the teeth l5 rise in front cn the forward sheaves Ill.

The bars l constitute stripper plates for gradually lifting the crop material off from the teeth l5 as the material is pushed rearwardly up the inclined top of the bars l, and the teeth l5 simulate a receding movement through the spaces between the bars as they move rearwardly. The cropmaterial is then picked up by feed apron 2 and fed to the treating device l.

The driving of belts l2 is accomplished by driving the forward shaft 3 with its sheaves it in the direction desired, opposite to the direction of movement over the ground. This may be accomplished by a chain E8 driven from the device l and driving a shaft i9 extending laterally from the power drive for the device I in general alignment with shaft B to be driven. A universal coupling 2li is disposed in shaft i9 to allow the pick-up to float over rough terrain.

The vertical floating of the pick-up is accomplished by securing the rear ends of lever arms 6 to a pivot shaft 2i which is suspended beneath the rear axle 22 of the device i in bearings in suitable brackets 2t. An adjustable stop 24, on one of the brackets 23 is engaged by a shoulder 25 on one of the arms to limit the downward pivoting of the pick-up below the desired horizontal operating position.

The pick-up is adapted to be raised upwardly clear of the ground when not in use, to prevent possible injury to the piclvup when the device l is being transported from job to job. For this purpose a tension spring 26 is secured at one end to a crank arm 2l on the inner end of shaft 2|. The spring 25 is secured at its other end to the frame of the device i at a substantial distance from the pivotal shaft. Preferably, arm 2l eX- tends downwardly from shaft 2i, and spring 26 extends forwardly from the arm 2l to effect lifting of arms t by the tension of the spring. Spring 26 should be sufficiently strong to lift the pick-upV and retain-the saine in its inoperative position i spaced above the ground.

When it is desired to lower the pick-up to operative position a second tension spring 28 secured to crank arm 2? and extending rearwardly to the manual operating lever 29, is tensioned by lever 29 to effect pivoting of shaft 2l and arms E to a point where shoulder 25 engages or nearly engages stop 2d.

The springs 2d and 25 are opposed to each other when lever 2% is moved to operative position for the piclreup by the tensioning of spring 28. In this position the weight of the rotor is substantially balanced by the differential tensioning of springs 2S and 2d so that the rotor floats lightly on the ground and is enabled to move over rough places without injury to the teeth i5 or belts l2.

When lever 29 is moved to release the tension on spring 2d, the spring Zit lifts the rotor upwardly to inoperative position.

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The flexible V-belts I2 are free to give individually when uneven ground is encountered, and may recede by shortening the distance between shafts 8 against the spreading action of springs i3. The belts l 2 may slip relative to the sheaves i@ and to each other in case the teeth l5 strike obstructions, and injury to the teeth and mechanism is thereby avoided. i

rllhe sheaves iii may be mounted on the shafts 8 in any suitable manner. The forward drive shaft 8 may be square or polygonal in shape and the sheaves lil thereon may have cored square holes to fit the same. The shaft 8 has spacer sleeves 3c between the sheaves it to space the latter thereon. The end sleeves Se are cylindrical on the outside and extend into the bearings 9 to support the shaft for rotation.

The rear idling shaft 8 may be circular in cross section and have circular tubular sleeves 3l mounted thereon for spacing the sheaves l0 on the shaft.

The upper rear ends of bars l are adapted to overlie the forward edge of apron 2 when the pick-up is in operation to facilitate delivery of the crop material to the apron.

IThe bars 'i constituting the pick-up housing are preferably constructed of highly resilient metal to prevent easy denting of the saine by the encounter of stones and the like. The bars l may be braced against displacement near the curved forward ends by means of short channel strips 32 extending between the upper and lower sections of the respective bars and secured thereto. The bracing strips 32 extend between the adjacent 'l-belts l2 and may have a central bearing member 33 par lally journaled on a corresponding sleeve 3l on the forward shaft 8.

The invention may/'have various embodiments within the scope of the claims.

I claim:

1. A mobile piola-up unit for picking up and elevating loose material of the class described from the ground, comprising a frame, means for moving said frame forwardly along the ground, a forward set of sheaves carried by said frame and having a common axis transverse to the direction of movement of said frame, a rear set of sheaves carried by said frame and having a common axis transverse to the direction of movement of said frame, said sets of sheaves being spaced apart longitudinally of said frame and having the corresponding sheaves thereof in alignment, a plurality of endless belts having a lower and an upper run and mounted on the corresponding sheaves of said sets, said belts extending longitudinally of said frame substantially in the line of travel thereof, the upper run of said belts extending to a zone of delivery of material, a series of spaced pick-up teeth carried by each belt and adapted to rake the ground and to pickup material therefrom, and means operatively associated with at .least one of said sets of sheaves and driving said lower belt run in a forward direc tion and driving said upper belt run in a rearward direction to effect delivery of material, the upward movement of the belts around the forward sheaves effecting piclup of raked material from the ground by said teeth.

2. The mobile piola-up unit of claim l in which the means for moving the frame forwardly along the ground comprises nie-ans operatively associated with said frame to support the same in either of two positions, the frame in one position being raised `to a travel position where the pick-up isinoperative, and Vthe frame in the other position being biased toward the ground to effect the stated raking and pick-up operations.

3. The mobile pick-up unit of claim 1 in which the means `for moving the frame forwardly along the ground comprises means associated with sai( frame and biasing the saine upwardly to an inoperative position, and manually operable means associated With said last named means to oppose the same and secure the frame in operative position.

4. The mobile pick-up unit of claim 1 in which the means for moving the frame forwardly along the ground comprises a pivotal support for the frame disposed on a transverse axis rearwardly thereof, and means associated with said pivotal support to lift the frame thereon to an inoperative position and to lower the frame to operative position.

5. The combination with the pick-up unit of claim 1 of a plurality of stripper bars carried by the frame above the belts, said stripper bars being disposed between the teeth of adjacent belts and being inclined upwardly and rearwardly relative to the upper belt run to elevate the material gradually to a level above the tips of the teeth.

6. The combination with the pick-up unit of claim 1 of a housing for the belts comprising a plurality of laterally spaced parallel bars carried by the frame and looped forwardly about the forward end of the belts, said bars having a lower section disposed generally horizontal beneath the lower belt run and having an upper sectioninclined upwardly and rearwardly relative to the upper belt run and above the latter and said bars being disposed between the teeth of corresponding adjacent belts.

7. The mobile pick-up unit of claim 1 comprising additional means carried by the frame and associated with said sheaves to bias the sheaves of one set away from the sheaves of the other set, said biasing means being adapted to yield under temporary increased tensioning of said belts in operation.

8. The mobile pick-up unit of claim 1 in which said belts are individual endless V-belts and said sheaves have V-grooves therein gripping the sides of the corresponding belts and retaining the belts against lateral force from the teeth.

9. The mobile pick-up unit of claim 1 in which said belts are individual endless V-belts, said teeth are rigidly secured to said belts and extend outwardly from the corresponding belts and generally normal to the outer surface thereof.

10. The mobile pick-up unit of claim 1 in which said belts are individual endless V-belts, said teeth comprise spikes extending outwardly from the corresponding belts generally normal thereto and have shanks extending through the cc|rre sponding belts and secured on the inner side thereof, and said sheaves have J -grooves therein gripping the sides of the corresponding belts and providing space beneath the belts for receiving the inner ends of the teeth Shanks.

STANLEY D. RUSSELL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are cf record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,474,585 Fritschi et al NOV. 20, 1923 1,619,610 Fritz Mar. 1, 1927 1,780,472 Gilger Nov. 4, 1930 2,141,493 Tallman Dec. 27, 1938 2,242,077 Jones May 13, 1941 2,297,295 Flintjer Sept. 29, 1942 2,347,926 Paradise et al May 2, 1944 2,363,888 Martin Nov. 28, 1944 2,489,199 Russell Nov. 22, 1949 2,524,233 Russell Oct. 3, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 638,713 France Feb. 27, 1928 509,048 Great Britain June 27, 1939 

